St. Vincent blesses the Moore Theatre, ‘Two Trains Running’ explores gentrification in the late ‘60s, and Lewis Black yells about Trump.

Concerts

St. Vincent

Jan 18 & 19 Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, keeps defying expectations. In every album since Marry Me, her delightful and at times saccharine 2007 debut, the classically trained Clark embraces more of an experimental id, plays her guitar with a little more ferocity. Last year’s Masseduction marks the Oklahoma native’s most musically soaring, sexual, and emotionally raw effort to date. Moore Theatre, stgpresents.org

Books & Talks

Nikki Giovanni

Jan 16 The prolific children’s book author, poet, and activist joins former mayoral candidate Nikkita Oliver to discuss her new collection, A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter. In her new poems, Giovanni explores the ways in which her parents’ destructive marriage, and the subsequent move into her grandparents’ loving home, expanded her capacity for both pain and joy. Benaroya Hall, lectures.org

Theater

Two Trains Running

Jan 12–Feb 11 It’s 1969, a crucial moment in the civil rights movement, and Memphis, the protagonist of Two Trains Running, just wants to hold on to his restaurant amid gentrification efforts in his Pittsburgh neighborhood. Playwright August Wilson explores this era from the perspective of African Americans trying to carve out a life as urban migration creates new forms of segregation. Seattle Repertory Theatre, seattlerep.org

Theater

Stuff You Should Know

Jan 15 The award-winning SYSK podcast offers biweekly breakdowns on topics ranging from LSD to woolly mammoths to the history of action figures. In a live show, hosts Chuck Bryant and Josh Clark deliver their wide breadth of knowledge directly to the people, bestowing useful factoids for the next pub trivia night. Moore Theatre, stgpresents.org

Books & Talks

National Geographic Live

Jan 28–30 From high above the Earth, on the International Space Station, astronaut Terry Virts captured unbelievable images of our little blue planet. Virts shares these striking photographs, and corresponding stories, that celebrate the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Benaroya Hall, seattlesymphony.org

Astronaut Terry Virts snapped breathtaking photos of Earth from the International Space Station, which he shares at Benaroya Hall.